The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications as it relates to remote apparatus for enabling game players present at remote locations to play a game over a communications link.
There are numerous known remote game systems in which players, present at various remote locations, can play a game by communicating coded information relating to the state of the game through a common communication network, such as a telephone line.
By way of a first example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,558 entitled xe2x80x9cRemote Gaming Apparatusxe2x80x9d and issued to Shimamoto et al. on Feb. 8, 1983, each player has a dedicated game apparatus for detecting and displaying the position of game pieces (i.e., chess pieces). Each dedicated gaming apparatus has communications hardware for transmitting and receiving over the phone system coded information relating to the position of the game pieces. In this manner, each dedicated gaming apparatus displays the current position of the game pieces as effected by both players.
The apparatus disclosed by ""558 patent does not identify the players or enable the players to communicate with each other while playing the game. Further, not only must each player input their game moves, but they must also manually move game pieces on a game board.
By way of a second example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,471 entitled xe2x80x9cInteractive Telephone Gaming Systemxe2x80x9d and issued to Vancraeynest on Feb. 16, 1993, discloses a gaming apparatus for use with a telephone network which supports standard dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals. One or more players use a modified telephone station to play a game with a network gaming apparatus by receiving a sequence of DTMF tones and replicating the same sequence DTMF tones by pressing tone keys that correspond to the received sequence of DTMF tones. Each tone key has a corresponding light emitting diode (LED) which illuminates in response to receiving a corresponding DTMF signal from the network gaming apparatus. The illumination of the LEDs provide visible cues to the player at the modified telephone station to assist the player in matching the auditory pattern of DTMF tones generated by the network gaming apparatus.
The apparatus disclosed by the ""471 patent does not identify players, nor does it enable play or communications between two or more players.
By way of a third example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,288 entitled xe2x80x9cCommunication Terminal Used As A Game Machinexe2x80x9d and issued to Teshima et al. on Dec. 28, 1993, discloses a communication terminal for playing a game with an opponent through a telephone line. The communication terminal comprises a push button type telephone connected parallel to the communication terminal so that a voice signal of the push button type telephone is simultaneously transmitted to the opponent with a PB signal and a position signal. Accordingly, it is possible to talk with an opponent during game play.
By way of a fourth example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,855 entitled xe2x80x9cApparatus And Method Of Communicating Between Electronic Gamesxe2x80x9d and issued to Ng on Oct. 26, 1999, discloses linking small hand-held electronic games, preprogrammed with a single game, through a communications unit so as to enable connection to a central processing unit on an Internet website.
By way of a fifth example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,064 entitled xe2x80x9cDevice For Playing Games Via A Communications Network, And A Game System Using A Communications Networkxe2x80x9d and issued to Pieterse et al. on Jun. 27, 2000, discloses apparatus using a pointing device such as a joystick or the keys of a telephone set to generate DTMF pointing signals. Pieterse also discloses using the keys of a telephone set to transmit game instructions, such as xe2x80x9cFirexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cStartxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cStopxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cHoldxe2x80x9d.
The apparatus disclosed by the ""288, ""855 and ""064 patents do not clearly identify and differentiate between players and their respective game moves, nor do they enable the display and identification of each player""s moves on a modified keypad located at each of a plurality of communication terminals participating in game play.
Although known remote gaming systems succeed in providing entertainment to remotely located game players, they pose a problem in that they often require specialized apparatus, in addition to a telephone that shares a telephone line with the apparatus. Further, it is difficult to identify who made which move and whose turn it is, especially for a game played by a plurality of players.
Computer games, played via a server located in a telephone network or over the Internet, normally require the user to subscribe to a service and/or pay to play a game. For such games, it is difficult to set up a game with a known opponent. Often, game players are playing alone or against a computer. In other cases, players participating in game play do not know who their opponents are, and thus the personal interaction with friends and family members is lost. Further, such games do not allow parties having a conversation to spontaneously play a game by placing their communication devices in a game mode.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to incorporate a compact gaming system into a communication terminal, such that parties having a conversation can initiate game play without interfering with an ongoing conversation or having to connect additional equipment to their telephone lines.
It is a further object of the present invention to display at each terminal participating in a game, the identities of each player and to identify each player""s game moves in a clear and compact manner.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the above and other objectives are realized in a keypad for dialing telephone numbers and displaying game moves. Such a feature can be used to indicate the moves of parties playing a game over a telephone line. Once a party indicates a game move, the party is prohibited from making any additional moves until after the other party makes a move. The present invention can also be incorporated into wireless telephones (e.g., cellphones), walkie-talkies, wireless toys and other types of transceivers.
More particularly, once a communications link (e.g., wired, wireless, etc.) is established between two or more parties, their terminals are placed in a game mode which activates inband signal detection circuitry located within the terminals. Multi-colored indicators (e.g., LEDs and/or LCDs) at each terminal are activated, their color being dependent upon the source of received instructions.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a keypad includes a plurality of keys and an indicator which indicates a game move.
At least one of the keys may be used to dial a telephone number. At least one of the keys may be used to establish a communications link. At least one of the keys may include a display which presents the game move to a user of the keypad. The keys may display telephone digits used for dialing a telephone number, and the keys may display game moves after a communications link is established with a device associated with the telephone number. The identity of a game player associated with the game move may be indicated by the indicator. The indicator may comprise a plurality of multi-colored LEDs, each LED representing a different game player. Each key may include the indicator. The keypad may reside on a surface of a telephone.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a keypad in a communications apparatus includes a plurality of keys and at least one indicator which indicates at least one game move when a game mode is initiated by a user of the apparatus. The keypad may reside on a surface of the apparatus.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a telephone keypad is used to dial telephone numbers. The keypad includes a plurality of keys and at least one indicator which indicates at least one game move when a game mode is initiated by a user of the keypad. At least one of the keys may include a display which presents the game move to the user. The display may be an LCD.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method is implemented in a communications apparatus. A telephone number is dialed using a plurality of keys located on a keypad. At least one game move is displayed on at least one of the keys.
A game player associated with the game move may be identified. The game move may be displayed after a game mode of the apparatus is activated.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method is implemented in a communications apparatus used to establish and maintain a communication link between two or more game players. A telephone number is dialed using a plurality of keys located on a keypad. On at least one of the keys, at least one game move made by at least one of the game players is displayed.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method of playing a game uses a game-playing device. The method includes displaying game moves on at least one key of a keypad mounted on a surface of the device.
The keypad may be used to dial telephone numbers. The game-playing devices may include at least one of a speakerphone, a wireless telephone, a walkie-talkie, a wireless toy and a transceiver.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method of playing a game uses a plurality of devices, each of the devices being associated with a particular game player. The method includes displaying game moves on at least one key of a keypad mounted on a surface of each of the devices.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a keypad includes a plurality of keys and an indicator which identifies a game player. The indicator may indicate a game move made by the game player.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a keypad in a communications apparatus includes a plurality of keys and at least one indicator which identifies a game player when a game mode is initiated by a user of the apparatus and a game move is made by the identified game player. At least one of the keys may be used to dial a telephone number.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method is implemented by a communications apparatus used to play a game. The method includes dialing a telephone number using a plurality of keys located on a keypad of the apparatus and, on at least one of the keys, identifying a game player that made at least one game move made during the game.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method is implemented in a communications apparatus used to establish and maintain a communication link between two or more game players. The method includes dialing a telephone number using a plurality of keys located on a keypad and identifying, on at least one of the keys, a particular one of the game players that made a particular game move.